Urho Kekkonen

Urho Kekkonen (3 September 1900-31 August 1986) was Prime Minister of Finland from 17 March 1950 to 17 November 1953 (succeeding Karl-August Fagerholm and preceding Sakari Tuomioja) and from 20 October 1954 to 3 March 1956 (succeeding Ralf Torngren and preceding Fagerholm), as well as President of Finland from 1 March 1956 to 27 January 1982 (succeeding Juho Kusti Paasikivi and preceding Mauno Koivisto). He was a member of the Center Party of Finland.

Biography
Urho Kekkonen was born in Pielavesi, Finland, Russian Empire in 1900, and he studied law at Helsinki University and in 1936 entered the Parliament for the Center Party of Finland. He served as Minister of Justice from 1936 to 1937, as Minister of the Interior from 1937 to 1939, and as Prime Minister four times in the period from 1950 to 1956. As President from 1956 to 1982, he maintained a careful balance between good relationships with the West, and particularly with his Scandinavian neighbors, on the one hand, and the Soviet Union on the other. His efforts to reduce the polarization caused by the Cold War were crowned with success at the Helsinki Conference of 1973-5. Owing to his domestic popularity, his tenure was extended by special legislation, but he was forced to resign in 1981 because of ill health. He died in 1986 at the old age of 86.